Fran's Fitness Over 50

Accept yourself as you are to get ready for more

Don’t go to that dark place

Everyone I know dislikes something about themselves. Usually it’s something about their appearance. Sometimes it’s something else. Me? I don’t like the potbelly that appears when I forget to suck it in. A lot of the time it’s something that can’t be changed. And disliking something about yourself can mess with your mind. It sends your self-esteem into a tailspin. It takes your brain to dark and disturbing places. And it’s hard to recover from that kind of mentality. And it prevents us from moving on to bigger and better things. So, let’s all agree: accept yourself as you are to get ready for more.

But it’s common

An article in Psychology Today agrees that most of us find fault with something about ourselves and says that we all believe that this will be motivation for us to change that thing. But it doesn’t always work that way. You can certainly try to be better, more attractive, skinnier, but that may take time. And in some cases, may not be possible at all. I talk quite a bit about setting goals. Decide on something you want, make sure that it’s feasible and reasonable within a certain time frame, set intermediate goals to get you on the path, and take action.

In the meantime…

But while you’re taking that action, you’re going to be looking in the mirror at the same reflection. Accept how you look right now. And if it’s a thought process that you want to change, the first step to change how you think is to recognize that process. Accept it, acknowledge it, train your brain to turn to how you want to think as you recognize your thought in the moment.

Remember your Amazing Box

And as you change the things that you can change, make sure that you’re acknowledging the hard work you’ve done to get there. You’ve taken steps to change yourself for the better. You’re adding resilience and strength. You might not be all the way to where you want to be yet, but every step is an achievement. And on days that you feel down about yourself, remind yourself how far you’ve come. Make contributions to your Amazing Box as you reach the milestones toward your goal. And on those down days, reach into your Amazing Box and read one of them. That’s motivation to keep going.

It’s okay to keep your stuff

I read an article telling me it was okay to keep my stuff. That made me happy. My philosophy of No Guilt is right on target again. We’ve been told that we should do a “Swedish death cleaning” so that our kids don’t have all that stuff to go through. The author of this article said bush-wah to that. If you enjoy every knick-knack on your shelves, keep them. If you enjoy all the hundreds of socks in your drawers, there’s nothing wrong with that. It really is okay to keep your stuff.

Don’t let others lay a guilt trip on you

Don’t let anyone else guilt you into getting rid of your things. If they bring you joy, keep them.

I don’t know why we sometimes feel the urge to collect things. I have some dolphin figurines. Some are glass. Some are ceramic. Some are metal. Some are more realistic than others. Some are better than others. I love them all. I enjoy looking at them. I’m keeping them.

I’m the one that has to dust them. And when I feel the urge to do that, I enjoy picking each one up and putting it back once the shelf is dusted. Even if I hired someone to do the dusting for me (wouldn’t that be nice!), I would still enjoy looking at my little collection.

If your things bring you joy, keep them!

They bring back wonderful memories that make me happy. And happiness adds to our resilience and promotes healthy aging. I’m all for happy!

If you enjoy decluttering, go for it. If you no longer enjoy the things on your shelf, then by all means weed them out. Get rid of the clutter that is in the way of your life. If you stack magazines by a table and you’re constantly knocking the pile over. Find a different place for your magazine. If you don’t read them and if the most recent one is three years old, recycle them.

And if you have clutter blocking your pathways through your house, that’s a hazard. Definitely get rid of that. I spoke with an aging expert a number of years ago, and she told me that clutter is a major cause of falls in folks our age. We should do everything we can to reduce our risk of falling, like improving our balance or getting rid of clutter. Especially in our own homes.

But we can’t let others dictate what we do with things that make us happy. It’s okay to keep your stuff.

See success on the horizon

If you’re retired, yay! I used to daydream of lazy mornings with coffee and the newspaper when I thought of retirement back when I had a real job. Getting up when I woke up. Doing what I wanted with my days. But reality is far different. No lazy mornings when you have dogs. They’re up with me as the sun rises. And who wants to look at the news now anyway? While we may not have an actual job to go to every day, there are things we still want to get done. Some days it seems like there are too many things we want to do and not enough hours in the day, even without a job. So, we have to figure out what things need to be actual goals. What do we really want to do with the rest of our lives? How can you see success?

Create a framework for success

We need to create a framework – a blueprint – a plan – to be able to do the things we want to. Here’s how to create that framework.

Think about what’s most important to you. For me, it’s my family and my dogs. I have to be present for them every day. And try to be positive and upbeat. How can I achieve that?

First I need to be able to physically provide what they need. So I have to be fit – mentally and physically. What’s lacking for me?

You get the picture – think about the various aspects of your life. What’s needed, what’s lacking. How can I bridge that gap? How can I lay the foundation of that bridge? Do I have the ability to plan that bridge? Do I need help with it? What do I need for the cement or the bricks? Create goals that are right for you.

But aren’t we at the stage of life where we don’t need goals? No – everyone needs goals. No matter how young or old you are. Having a purpose keeps us going. It grows our resilience. And a purpose keeps us healthy. It helps take us out of ourselves – so we live longer, have a healthier heart, reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s, and reduces inflammation and the risk of other disease. Proper goals boost your motivation, too – you’ll want to take action to accomplish them.

Print it out so you can see it

When you’re ready to create your framework, lay it all out on paper, because it’s easy to see everything that way. Write in ink. One piece of paper for each aspect of your life that you want to address. Think about pie in the sky now. Dream big. For me? One dream is to compete in obedience with my younger dog. I wasn’t giving him the best training, trying to address his needs on the nights I taught others. I talked about that with an expert and she recommended that I stop bringing him, and figure out a way to give him my undivided attention. So far, it’s working. I can see success on the horizon.

Don’t wait forever

What do cat videos and chaos have in common? I watched a short video this morning from a guy I follow on Facebook and something struck me. He said, “If you wait for life to calm down before you laugh, you’ll be waiting a long time.” Here’s a secret: life does not calm down. There’s always something that seems to come first. Let’s all adopt a new philosophy: Don’t wait forever to laugh and be happy.

Don’t let the stuff get in the way

There are always things to do. Things that don’t take a back seat to anything. There will always be chaos in the world. But you’ll always have five minutes to watch a silly cat video and laugh. Take a minute for joy. You’ll feel better about the rest of your day. You’ll even increase your resilience, and your overall health.

There are a few things you can do every day to boost your happiness that don’t take much time as well. We’ve talked about many of these things before, but they bear repeating. Because you can never have too much happiness or joy. Real Simple magazine recently listed 12 of them!

Think of others

Do something nice for someone. Pick up the phone and call a friend or relative. They’ll enjoy hearing from you. Or even send a text and let them know you’re thinking about them.

Take a walk outside. Breathe some fresh air.

Notice humorous moments throughout your day. They happen – we just have to pay attention.

Turn it around

Turn a situation around and find a more positive aspect. If something goes wrong, and something inevitably goes wrong, you can usually find a way to get something positive out of it. Shift your perspective. Find a lesson in the bad stuff. Or at least acknowledge your part and move on.

Yes, sometimes we do have to look for the joy in life. Some days it’s definitely harder than others. But joy and happiness are there. Don’t wait forever to find them.

Procrastinating increases stress

Did you ever start thinking about all the things you have to do – all the things on your list that didn’t get done last week. And all the things people are expecting you to do this week. Then all the things that you want to do to try to push just a little bit further toward whatever goal you want to achieve? And you don’t feel like doing any of it? Don’t wait. Start now. Procrastinating will only increase your stress. Life is stressful enough as it is without adding additional stress to it.

I was sitting at my desk the other day, looking at my to-do list. It never gets any shorter. And not doing any of the things listed on it. I was feeling more and more anxious, and more and more stressed. Why? By not starting a task?

So, instead of actually starting a task, I did a little research. It turns out that procrastinating really does increase your stress. I was not imagining it. A review in the National Institutes for Health indicates that procrastination is a low-resource means of avoiding aversive and difficult task-related emotions.

Yes. Instead of beginning a task on my list, I procrastinated and added more stress by researching procrastination and stress.

We know that stress is bad for our health. It tends to compromise our immunity. And as we age our immunity decreases. Not what we need.

Here’s the deal. If you’ve got something on your list that you think is too challenging, you’ll try to avoid doing it. Or if you said something to your best friend that you probably shouldn’t have, you’re going to put off calling them to apologize. On the other hand, if your dog threw up, you’re going to grab the paper towels and cleaner and do something about it. There are few immediate adverse consequences to not jumping into a challenging task. Your friend will still accept your apology a few days later. After you’ve worked yourself up about it and finally called.

So even though you know you might pay some consequences later, it’s worth it to you to put off taking the action. That action is hard. It might be worthwhile in the end (making progress on a challenging task or strengthening your friendship), but right now you’ll procrastinate. You know that the carpet will stain, though, or someone will walk through the mess, so you clean it up right away. That’s easy. And, as it turned out, my research into procrastination actually did tick an item off of my list: this article!

Procrastinating increases stress. So get to it. Start small. Take one little action. Chances are, you’ll be motivated to do more.

Little rituals keep us grounded

The other morning I was feeling out of sorts. Until I was making my coffee. And then it occurred to me that it’s the little rituals that keep us grounded.

A normal morning, but…

It was a normal morning, nothing out of the ordinary. After I took the dogs out, I prepared their breakfast and I even remembered the flax and psyllium powders. Booker gets the lion’s share of one homemade food container, Torque the rest of that one, some of the next, and Simon gets the rest of the half from that container. Then even it up with the kibble, except for Booker. I still felt out of sorts, even though it’s the same dog food routine every day. I fed them and started preparing my own. Same routine every day. Fill up the electric kettle. Measure the coffee. And that’s when it hit me.

Comfort comes first, then the grounding

It felt comforting, that little ritual of making the coffee. It keeps me grounded. The act of pushing the lever on the kettle, measuring the coffee, pouring the water. The smell of the coffee steeping. And the rest of the breakfast preparation. It sets me up for the day. I know what to expect. It settles me. Grounds me.

Then I can take all the unexpected happenings more in stride. Or, as in stride as I ever do. Which is to think, “OMG! What’s happening!” at first. And then settle down. “Okay. We got this. We can handle it.”

Those rituals add to our resilience

But the little rituals help us get there. They help us to accept minor irritations as just that. And they help us deal with the major ones a little better. Those little rituals set us up to grow more. If we’re settled first, then we can grow. And we can become more resilient. If we start in a comfortable place, then we can get uncomfortable for a bit.

How to resist the temptation of the couch

My sister said it the other day. “I understand how people just don’t get up.” It was one of those days when the knees, hips, and back were creaky. After a certain age we all have those days. You know your knees and hips are going to hurt when you start to get up. And then when you’re most of the way standing, your back feels like it’s going to give. It’s certainly tempting to just sit. Read a book. Drink a beverage. And not get up. But at some point, you’ve got to. And you know that the more you sit, the worse the pain and creakiness will be. And yet, you still sit. Here’s how to resist the temptation, get up, and be productive.

I’m not going to give you platitudes. Yes, you’re going to be creaky. That lessens, but it never disappears. But the more you move, the easier it is to move. And Newton’s first law of physics should also be our first law of getting older. A body in motion stays in motion. The more you move, the easier it will be to move. And the easier it is to resist the temptation of the couch.

And, the more active we are, the more resilient we are as well. When we think nothing of getting up and doing something, the better equipped we are to tackle hard projects. And the more we’re willing to take the extra steps to reach our goals.

If you sit at a desk working, set a timer to go off every half hour. Get up. Move around. I tend to sit for way too long at my desk. And then, even though I am quite active throughout the day (think about a 13-year-old dog wandering the house – Where’s Booker?! Is he wearing his pants?!) I still get stiff. Enter the timer.

And drink lots of water if you’re sitting. You’ll have to get up to go to the washroom. Cause, effect. It’s certainly easy to resist the temptation to stay sitting when nature has an urgent call.

And exercise. The Centers for Disease Control recommends we each should do 150 minutes of moderate to intense exercise every week. It keeps our heart healthy, our lungs filled with oxygen, our muscles and joints lubricated. Add to that a couple of days of strength work to keep our muscles and bones strong. It sounds like a lot, but if we incorporate some of that into our daily activities, it will keep us healthy and less creaky.

But, I will say that some days it’s tough to resist the couch.

One change at a time

A few years ago it was all the rage to see how much multi-tasking you could do. Remember? Dust some furniture, have a meaningful phone conversation, train the dog – all simultaneously. But do you remember what happened then? Nothing was done well. The furniture had to be dusted again. You had no recollection of your conversation. And the dog went on their way, not learning anything. The takeaway? Multi-tasking doesn’t work. Focus on one thing at a time.

Keep everything else chugging along

The same goes for achieving big goals. Work on one thing at a time. You’re more assured of success if the rest of your life goes chugging along the same as it has been. So you can focus on the big thing you want to change.

Too much disruption leads to failure

Leo Babauta of zen habits says that trying to change multiple things at once doesn’t work. “Your focus gets spread thin, and in the long run you end up failing to stick to any of the changes.” Haven’t you found that to be the case yourself? You want to eat healthier at the same time you want to get more sleep. Where is the time you should be sleeping, planning your healthy meals, and shopping for the ingredients? While at the same time doing everything else you had been doing before.

Something’s got to give. You may try it for a week or so, because you have to shop anyway. But then you find that you don’t have time to prep and bake Wednesday’s veggie lasagna, and you stay up until way past midnight on Thursday trying to catch up on the work assignment you need to finish by Friday because you had to take the cat to the vet.

One change at a time leads to success

Something’s got to give. A more sensible solution might have been to switch out one or two meals a week for healthier options for a month, not have a wholesale change. Or going to bed 15 minutes earlier. The change you make for that month will stick. And then you can add another change, once this thing becomes a habit. You’ll be in the mindset of getting more things done, and you’ll feel great about being successful with the change you made.

One thing at a time works. If there’s no deadline, you can make that change stick.

You’re tracking your heart rate – what does it mean?

You’ve got a smart watch and are tracking your heart rate – now what?

I don’t have one. And I don’t really want one. Yeah, some of the things they do are pretty cool, but I’d need glasses to see what it says. Most of the people I know wear one, though. A smart watch. If you’ve got one, you know it tracks lots of things, such as your heart rate. You know your heart rate goes up and it goes down. But what does your heart rate variability really mean? And why is it important to keep track of your heart rate?

If you’re paying attention to your heart rate’s highs and lows, then you should know your average resting heart rate. The American Heart Association says that your resting heart rate should be between 60 and 100 beats per minute for a normal adult. Very active people or athletes can have normal resting heart rates as low as 40 beats per minute. But what does a higher resting heart rate signify?

Higher resting heart rates mean that your heart is working harder to circulate your blood throughout your body. And it could mean that not enough blood or oxygen is reaching your brain, organs, or tissues. AARP also indicates that a higher resting heart rate is normal with age.

A higher heart rate is common when we exercise, though. Those heart rate by age graphics about two-thirds of the way through a workout video never seem to go high enough when I’m taking my heart rate. It’s frustrating. I’m not too old to be exercising, and I want to check my status as well.

But it’s an easy formula to figure out the target your heart rate should be when exercising:

Your maximum heart rate is 220 minus your age.

Your target heart rate during exercise according to the AHA should be 50 – 85 percent of your maximum heart rate.

Easy enough to calculate. Especially with one of those handy-dandy smart watch calculators. So, get up, get sweaty, and hit those targets.

Of course, if you’re concerned about your heart rate, ask your doctor. Also, before you begin any exercise program, check with your medical provider.

Exercise and the brain, and Lumosity

Yes, I’m a nerd. And I embrace my nerdship. I play Lumosity games every day to exercise my brain. Some of the games are lots of fun, like the train one. I’m really bad at it, but I enjoy it. Other games are not so much fun, but I do them (sigh) because they’re good for me. All beside the point. The other day I earned a card playing brain games on Lumosity: Exercise and the Brain.

Exercise is good for the brain

It’s nothing we didn’t already know, that exercise is good for the brain. Exercise, especially cardio, increases blood flow, including blood flow to the brain. And regular exercise has been linked to slower loss of brain volume as we age. Lumosity cites a study by Luis F. Ciria, et al that seems to confirm this. The researchers note in this review that exercise does not seem to cause improved cognition, but other studies have shown that with exercise our cognitive function is sustained.

Lumosity is quick to point out that a single workout won’t do much for our brain, but regular workouts do seem to give our brains a boost.

Moderate workouts for the win

And they note that the workouts don’t have to be intense. Regular moderate workouts are great for our brain. A 30-minute brisk walk most days of the week is something to shoot for. An amble through a shopping mall won’t cut it, though. If you don’t like to walk, Lumosity, like others, says that a workout you will do is loads better than scheduling a workout that you won’t.

I’m not a huge fan of walking or running on my own, so I’ve implemented the Make It Fun and It Gets Done theory. I listen to an exciting audiobook that lets me forget what I’m doing and takes me into the story. Before I know it, my treadmill time is done, I’m dripping with sweat, and the characters in my book have gotten themselves into another dangerous situation.

So, get your walk on. It’s good for your brain. Find a way to make exercise at least tolerable. Lumosity says so.